Many controversial, classic books are being challenged for bans in our school and public libraries; such as 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Color Purple, but there are many more that may take you by surprise: Pinkalicious, Harry Potter, and Charlotte’s Web, to name a few.
“They’re not using foul language. They’re not using violence. It’s mostly just concepts. And I feel like we shouldn’t put a ban on a concept.” Avery Bacon, Ankeny Walls of Books employee and Ankeny High School senior said.
The mere presence of magic in Harry Potter, the talking animals in Charlotte’s Web, and even the eating habits displayed in Pinkalicious were enough to strip these beloved books off the shelves. This raises a critical question among Iowans- what cherished books could be challenged next? More importantly, just how far will these book bans be taken in the future?
“They have viewpoints that are diverse and different from what you would see in mainstream television and other media,” Bacon said. “So it’s usually violent or very triggering in a sense, but also it’s real, and those things do happen, and I think it’s right to express those in literature, and it’s right to, I wouldn’t say, market that, but sell that to other people, because those truths need to be told.”
Currently, Iowa lawmakers are attempting to pass a bill which would remove the exemption of the obscenity law from Iowa schools and public libraries. Book bans and challenges directly contradict the Iowa Code section 728.7, which exempts educational institutions and public libraries from obscenity laws that would prohibit and censor certain books with scenes that are deemed overly graphic.
A survey collected in 2024 by the Des Moines Register showed that almost 3,400 books were taken out of Iowa school libraries due to Senate File 496, the Iowa law recently put into place that reframes what is considered “age-appropriate” for students.
The bill, House File 274 defines “obscene material” as material that, “the average person, taking the material as a whole and applying contemporary community standards with respect to what is suitable material for minors, would find appeals to the prurient interest and is patently offensive; and the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, scientific, political or artistic value.” Simply, if deemed obscene and lacking value, the book will be challenged and possibly banned from public libraries. However, the impact of this on school libraries varies from district to district.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t really know any difference because of growing up in Iowa, and I want to know what else is available in other schools. I think our librarians do a really amazing job that we should recognize them more for, for curating and trying to do as much as they can to promote different voices,” Bacon said.
Much of the impact of the bills and regulations that have been passed previously is left open to interpretation for each school district, as they get to choose how they enforce these rules and whether or not to censor the school libraries.
“For probably the first 24 years of my career, I had one book challenged in all that time, and that was at the elementary level, and it was decided that book would stay on the shelf, so that book did not get banned,” Jenny Wirtz, 28-year Ankeny High School librarian said. “So when these laws came in, it felt like we were creating laws to fix a problem we didn’t have.”
Wirtz explains her strong opinion against the book bans, especially those in public school libraries. She portrays her passion for this topic by presenting her argument against the judgement of age-appropriateness.
“That’s always their argument. ‘We’re protecting the children.’ And they act as if The Color Purple is going to be read by a third grader. The Color Purple is not even going to be read by a 10th grader. In most cases, it’s going to be read by a junior AP student who’s taking college credit. I feel like they use that as a way to cause fear that something in these books is damaging when I think there’s a lot more things that we should be scared of than books,” Wirtz said.
Some may wonder if challenging classic novels that deal with hard topics will make it more difficult for older students to become aware of these issues. Banning these books may come across as demonizing issues that are hard to talk about. By taking them out of the hands of readers entirely, some may feel as if they are stripped of the choice that people are given on the types of media that they consume daily. As members of society, some may also argue that they are entitled to this choice as part of the First Amendment.
“I always go at it from [the perspective that] reading literature should be a personal choice… I should have that choice, and you should have that choice. If we restrict materials, then you’ve taken my choice away,” Writz explained. “So I always come at it like that; like everybody should have that choice, but if we don’t have access, then no one has that choice.”
Iowa Democratic Legislator Heather Matson has been very involved in discussions regarding book bans.
“If you want to hover over your children in a public library, please be my guest, but libraries are voluntary inquiry. I cannot tell you how many times I said that in the last two years, and apparently I don’t have to be done with it — Libraries are voluntary inquiry,” Matson stated.
In regards to the effect House File 274 would have on public libraries and the power and ability that they would have to defend themselves, Matson worries about the monetary impact it will have on the public institutions.
“A bill like this is definitely dangerous, but it is going to put our small libraries in jeopardy, especially because of the cost of potential lawsuits,” Matson said.
A division of community is also a pressing concern for Matson when she is making her case against book bannings. She discussed with us how it can create fear mongering in the community and people use this fear to limit resources available about certain topics and issues.
“The whole goal for the folks that want to do these bans and restrict them is to cause that chilling effect, and it is to try to change behavior, and it’s to try to scare people into changing their behavior, essentially. And what that does is makes fewer resources available,” Matson said. “It creates a fear that we’re not all in this together, or that some people are good and some people are bad, and I don’t think that helps anyone in the community.”
During an interview, Wirtz also brought up an additional point of how book bans are affecting authors, in addition to students. When authors work so hard to create novels that give representation to certain groups or that highlight certain issues, and write in a way to handle those issues in a well-educated manner, only for it to be banned, it can be demotivating to writers.
“I worry that all of these book bans are going to make authors more cautious, and it’s going to make some authors not even write because they can’t write authentically,” Wirtz said. “So I feel like we’re going to get a narrowed worldview because we’re not accepting the wider worldview.”
Many people from different walks of life utilize the library, and everyone goes there for different reasons. Some are seeking the answer to a provoking question, and others are looking to escape from the world and enter a more fantastical one.
“A library is supposed to be a place for all viewpoints. It’s supposed to be a place where everyone is represented, not just the people who think like me, not just the people that think like the person who thinks the opposite of me, but for all of us. We’re seeing those rights being taken away step by step,” Writz said.
There are many questions about the future of our libraries and the state of our schools. While many would argue that the motivation behind House File 274 is purely striving to protect children who are exposed to certain topics too early, many oppose these bans on the basis that censorship has no place in a library, and that Iowa’s youth deserve the right to freedom of literature in their schools.
“I think the future depends on who shows up and the choices people make in advocating and standing up for each other,” Heather Matson said.
